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Continuing our studies in Hebrews, we come to a greatly encouraging section wherein we are exhorted to hold fast our confession.
5th Psalm from Egypt, I'm sorry, did not enter into. Though they had seen mighty and miraculous works of God. Though they had seen Pharaoh's army destroyed. Though they had seen the plagues that they had been delivered in so many miraculous ways.
Yet, because that sight of the miraculous was not joined with faith in their hearts, they did not enter faith. So in verse 7, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. And we finish with verse 11, therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience.
So once again we have a reminder of this intended to be delivered to people who are under pressure. They are under pressure to go back to the old ways, they are under pressure to renounce this belief in Christ, to go back to the temple, to offer sacrifice, to once again follow in the ways of Moses as understood by the Jewish people of that day.
And though it was a logical stopping point, because you have this, these strong congregation yet they are not going to enter into God's rest. It is a recognition of the fact that the congregation is a mixed company.
Though we desire to see everyone who makes profession of faith to have true and saving faith, the fact of the matter is the Bible tells us that there are people who go out from us. So it might be demonstrated that they were not truly of us.
And so while it was logical to stop there, the problem is we stopped right before all the encouragement. When we read through the book of Hebrews and we encounter these difficult probing sections, they will immediately be followed by words of encouragement.
And so today we get to pick up with verse 12 and while we only have a few verses left in this chapter, I confess that it would be very easy were I to give in to the temptation. Verse 12, for the word of God is active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to judge, or is a discerner, a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
There is no creature, no created thing, hidden from his sight, but all things are open, naked, laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do, or to whom we must give an answer. Therefore, since we have a God who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted until we are yet without sin.
To the gracious throne, the throne of grace, so we may receive mercy and find grace to help. You can see, you need to see it in context, active and sharper than any two-edged sword. That text, in its context, don't forget what has come before.
Why is the author saying the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword? Remember what was going on, there is this application of the 95th Psalm, and there is this warning in verse 6.
Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter it, because of disobedience, he again fixes a certain day. Today, saying through David after a long time, just as has been said before, today if you hear his voice, do not harm your hearts.
There was a promise in Scripture. There was a promise of arrest, but also a warning in Scripture. The people of God, some, they listened, some they hearkened, some did not. Word that came from God, discerned, it divided, it showed something about the people as to how they responded to.
And so it is in the context of the fact that the author has just finished two chapters, for him just a number of sentences really, but he has just finished from chapter 3 verse 12 all the way through verse 11 chapter 4, this exhortation based upon.
And so it is in that context, that application that he then says, the word of God, that word of God he has just gotten done making application of, that word of God he has just gotten done preaching, is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.
Now, I just have to stop for a moment, first giving in to temptation, to note how different the writer to the Hebrew's view of Scripture is than what is found in so much of what populates the shelves of your local Christian bookstore.
For today, sadly, in so many contexts, the Bible is viewed as merely an artifact of history, an ancient text that in essence needs to be updated to meet our modern needs. And yet it is so very clear that the writer to the Hebrews sees the word of God as living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.
And he's not talking about John chapter 6. He's not talking about Ephesians 1 or Romans 8 and 9. He's talking about the 95th Psalm. Yeah, that part back before Matthew that a lot of folks today struggle to see as being overly relevant.
It's just a bunch of mind gap between when he said today, and the author points that out. The today keeps going, and it was relevant to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and it was relevant to David's day, even after Joshua's day.
The point is, he sees the word of God as being alive and active in every generation. Every generation has to be. His response included saying, Have you not read what was spoken to you? Then he quotes from Genesis.
But it was spoken to you. He held men accountable for what had been spoken long ago as if God had spoken it directly to them. So that means to us, for example, that Jesus, all meat's clean, and we don't, I'm not saying we don't see fulfillment of all that kind of thing.
I'm not saying that. What I am saying is, that this attitude that in essence elevates modern man. We are so technologically advanced. We know so much more than the ancients did. We look at this, and well the ancients wrote this, so, you know, they just couldn't have understood.
What about the psalmist? Even as David was the instrument, is the very word of God. The word of God is not to the level of the people who originally wrote it, for it to be relevant to us today. God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword.
A two-edged sword being one of the most fearsome weapons you could have. You could cut with it going both directions. You didn't have to flip over. It was dangerous any way that it went. Only see in really good, special pain to see the kind of warfare that it would have been involved with.
But it pierces as far as the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow is able to judge the thoughts in a metaphorical way. He's not talking about a physical sword, or physical joints and marrow.
The point is that things that are normally joined together intimately, it is able to divide asunder. It is able to cut apart things that we would not even be able to tell what the difference was. Spiritually and physically.
So that it is, in one translation, able to judge. The term that is used there in the original language. At the end of verse 2, criticize something. We should be very careful. Just because we see the connection in the words, doesn't mean the meanings have not changed over time.
And when you look at the use of this term before, and especially since it seems that the writer of the Hebrews is very familiar with the writings of a man by the name of Philo, the Jew. And he uses a lot of his terminology, which would make sense because of the people he's trying to reach.
He wants to utilize language that would be familiar to them. When we look at that train of use, it always involved a sifting. A sifting, a discernment, an examination. Examine something carefully. You look at all the possibilities.
You want to have all the information that you can have so you can make the proper decision. And the writer tells us that the Word of God is able to judge, to sift through, to discern, and to properly understand the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.
That's a wonderful thing because, I don't know about you, but most of us human beings can't make heads or tails of the thoughts and intentions. So often they are a jumble of emotions and desires and sinful ideas and good and holy ideas.
And it's all mixed up within us. And thankfully, the Judge, who will judge us, He is able, His Word is able, to accurately judge and to discern the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. And yet, still speaking of just those words from Psalm 95, what the author is saying is, look, you can see here how the Word of God had this effect amongst the people of God.
Those preached words, today if you hear His voice not harden your hearts as you did so long ago, that Word, that message, for some, they hear, and they don't harden their hearts. There is a work of grace for others.
But there is no work of grace. Just as the rebellious child, when you say, no, don't do that, you see the stiffening of the back and the intention to go ahead and break the rules, even right in front of mommy and daddy, who are sensitive, those was, in Psalm 95, living and active and sharp in their two-edged sword, it remains that way today.
So many are afraid to preach the whole counsel of God. It must, of necessity, bring reflection, sometimes pain. There is no creature, created thing, or creation, to pull the covers over them, to find something that is impenetrable to the very sight of God.
No creature hidden from His sight, but all things open with whom we have to do or to demonstrate. No, we can't do it, we can't do it. The day before, they sounded like they were all for the true worship of God.
They were going to trust in Him, they were going to follow Him wherever, and then the spies come and all the disbelief that comes out. But the day before, if you had just looked, if you had said, well, those who are going to shrink back into destruction, that's the same situation that the writer is facing in the Christian congregation to be able to look out and tell who's really hearing, who's really listening.
You can't tell by body language. There are some folks who've learned over the years to look and zoom back in. Some of those who attempt very fully to the very death of God, still in North Korea, examining my every thought and faulting me forever, who hates God, who is not clothed in the righteousness of Christ, the unbeliever who is in a false religious system where he has to be going on the treadmill of works and indulgences and things like that, trying to earn forgiveness from God, that kind of text is no encouragement.
This wants, and say, there is an area of darkness, there is an area of ignorance, Lord, what must I do? The believer wants that because the believer can claim, first to say, ah, we have a great high priest, Jesus, the Son of God, that holy God, sees me in every moment of rejection that God does in His way on us, God.
The times when we're falsely accused of things, we've done nothing, but others say, oh, you've done something, Islamic law, I've seen the prophet, I saw him tear a page out of the Quran, since we have a great high priest, become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed, Jesus, the Son of God, who tend to be just apathetic about, sometimes on this side, you have the people who just can't stop.
With someone like that, eventually I think every counselor has had to say, can you not look to Christ? Can you not look outside? Well, just keep looking inside, you know, just keep looking inside. In Him, bear in mind, somewhere in trusting in self, trusting in what I've probably just, he has entered in.
He's not just an earth, I'm very explicit in later chapters, Jesus, it says Jesus, He's called Isa bin Mary, where Isa came, seated in the perfect seat, and set off, in the city, as they address this stuff, and here we are, if you just stop ascribing a son to God, we can all, it's not just religion, it is, and so what that does, the black and white thing, almost 287 people, the Son of God, let, Jesus, the Messiah was supposed to be this, was supposed to be that, and we see now, as we look at Hebrews, we're far enough in, we can start to look back, oh, I see some of the things he's emphasizing here, wow, chapter 1, Jesus, great, you see, there is this secularism, we won't let you succeed in our society, make preparation to hold fast to our confession, call themselves Christians, stumble out in the world, like soldiers, thinking, what do I need to do to hold, show me my own weaknesses, show me how it is I keep stumbling, show it is, show me how it is that I keep losing, losing grip, as he was, they will stand before Jesus, takes time, near to them, as we think of these things, to hold fast, Jesus, he's my high priest,.
